Tuesday, September 12 - Tourist Day in Joliet

Tuesday, September 12 - Tourist Day in Joliet

Google Maps pulled up the Route 66 Diner as the closest place for breakfast, so we got the bikes down and headed over the bridge for downtown Joliet.  Here is a view of our boat from the bridge.  The other boats took off early, but we hung out to recuperate and wait for Chrysalis to catch up.

Route 66 Diner looked just like a diner should!  Joliet was home to the prison featured in Blues Brothers, and the decor reflected that heritage.  And they had GRITS, good grits.  I was one excited Southern girl! 

The Route 66 museum was two blocks away, so of course we went.  Most of it was about Joliet, but all of it was very well done.  Stained glass windows from the old church building were left and they were beautiful!  The guide was a native of Joliet, and obviously loved her home town.  All in all, a very nice experience.

The casino was on our route back to the boat, so we parked our bikes beside the main doors and went in to look around.  I tried to take a picture of the gaming floor, from a distance, of course, but the guard did NOT think that was a good idea.  We watched the craps table for a little while, then left.  These were the only pictures I got.

We spent the afternoon on the boat watching barges come through the drawbridge and greeting other Loopers as they came in.

Just after 6:00, replicas of the Nina and the Pinta pulled in.  Looper boats filled the wall along the park, so the handler ran by our boat asking if we would raft up to make room for the ships.  We said no, they found space at the far end of the wall.  We had a steady stream of passers-by on the way to and from the boats, free entertainment.